Remote monitoring has shown to be a cost effective and capable means of securing physical locations. Current generation remote monitoring is conducted by remotely accessing existing wired camera systems and having the required software in a central location in order to view the cameras based on their communications type.
This has several drawbacks in that multiple software types are required at the central location to monitor multiple sites and consequently monitoring staff must be trained in multiple software types in order effectively control the systems.
Introducing further complications, video surveillance is typically, at least in part, transmitted over large bandwidth wired internet connections which necessitate internet availability at each site where monitoring is to occur. Once internet connectivity has been established it is then possible to broadcast the video streams back to a central office. As such, the camera locations are heavily affected by the limitations of the internet accessibility.
Where internet accessibility is difficult, costly, or impossible the current solution is to use ubiquity antennas.
Ubiquity antennas allow use of cameras in areas where internet is not available but require a clear line of sight, and all camera units to transmit to a central unit that is connected to a wired internet connection.
Inclement weather and blockages to the line of sight can severely impair the ability of Ubiquity antennas to communicate—damaging reliability of the overall system. Further, having all units communicate with one wired connection introduces the possibility that intermittent internet outages on the single wired connection will cause the entire site to be experience intermittent outages.
Aside from the technical limitation of these systems, the existing systems typically work best for installations which are static and are not moving from one location to the other. In circumstances where the surveillance area is constantly changing or moving to different sites these static installations become very expensive to install, uninstall, and then reinstall into the new location.
Cellular communication has been used in order to bypass the need for ubiquity antennaes, however, there are limitations in the way information is routed.
Modern cellular connections require information to be routed using sim cards with identifiable phone numbers attached. Routing information occurs once the cellular router has been given permission by the service provider to exist on the network and the cellular phone number is given permission to communication with the APN (Access Point Name server) at this point the APN will translate the cellular phone number into an I.P. address that can communicate on the internet.
Cellular routers are given private I.P. addresses from the service provider and are only able to route information through a specific set of protocols and ports. All protocols and ports outside the permissible spectrum are blocked by the service provider for internal use. As such, this blocking and routing method create limitations on how data can be transmitted over a cellular network, and requires security camera systems that are specifically designed to communicate on cellular networks.
Even where a system works around the limitations of the cellular network, bandwidth throughput is typically throttled such that serving of video streams is limited to shorter clips as opposed to live streaming around the clock. Cost of Bandwidth limits the ability of a company to monitor a location in real-time (live) due to the inherit bandwidth consumed on a monthly basis in order to monitoring a high-resolution video feed.
It is also worthwhile to note that sites lacking Internet may also lack electrical power. Availability of power is necessary in order to provide units in remote areas or areas under development for the purpose of remote monitoring. If power is not available, implementation may not be possible as current setups typically require larger amounts of power in order to provide effective monitoring.
In Summary, the approaches being offered on the market today rely heavily on a patchwork quasi-network of cameras and software traditionally having a steep learning curve. Further these systems provide minimal redundancy and do not allow end users (clients) any substantial control or input into the monitoring process.
Therefore there is a need for a video surveillance method which is portable in nature, allowing for monitoring using uniform software, which can utilize cellular communication networks in order to transmit the necessary data, and provide a client with access to the monitoring process. There is also a need for this system to utilize minimal electrical power and function in areas without reliable power.